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Darnussian House of Delegates
The Darnussian House of Delegates is the unicameral Legislature of the Darnussian Democratic Republic. It meets in Windstad Palace, in the city of Merenbürg, Narikaton. Terminology Majority and other Coalitions The Coalition is the collective term for the parties which are represented in the official Cabinet. Normally, the Coalition has two or more member parties which constitute the Cabinet, and between the Coalition partners commands at least a simple majority of the seats in the Legislature. or Doressa.]] Throughout Darnussian History, however, things have not always been as simple as that; at various times, "Coalitions" have existed which did not command a majority. At others, there have been "Coalitions" which consisted of only a single member, which itself may have constituted a majority or a minority, at various times. There have also been more unusual situations which do not fit neatly into a categorical system, such as the Cabinets of the Civil War era. Coalitions other than ordinary two-or-more party majority coalitions are generally described according to the following rules; * When the Coalition has only one member ** A single party holding an outright majority of the Legislature has the right to populate the entire Cabinet itself. Such a Coalition is termed a Unilateral Coalition, due to the fact that the Governing Party does not require the support of any other party in the legislature to achieve its agenda. Unilateral Coalitions tend to be rare and short-lived; parties which achieve that level of power usually fracture, or invite opposition sooner rather than later. The most recent Unilateral Coalition was formed by the Surprise Party from 2708 to 2721. ** When a single party forms a Cabinet despite not having a majority, it is termed a Minority Coalition, reflecting the fact that the Official Opposition actually holds the Legislative Power. There are two subtypes of this phenomenon possible: *** A Minority Caretaker is the single-party equivalent of a Plurality Caretaker, and is the most common form of a Minority Coalition. It is a carry-over Cabinet from a previous Unilateral Coalition, and is unstable by nature, as the Legislature can replace it at any time. It is a Caretaker, in that it governs only until the Legislature agrees on its replacement, and does not attempt to extend its own lifespan. The most recent Minority Caretaker was the Surprise Party, in an unusually long-lived caretaker role from 2721 to 2726. *** A Ruling Minority Coalition, by contrast, is a Minority Government which, nevertheless, maintains full power and has no intention to step aside quietly. This may be due to either restrictions placed on the Legislature to extend the Minority's time in office, or the tacit support of a nominal "Opposition" party which would rather see the Minority government continue than its likely replacement. The most recent Ruling Minority was the Democracy and Socialism Party from 2646 to 2652, which was two votes shy of a majority. In that case, the three-party Legislature was mutually antagonistic, with both Opposition Parties unable to agree to enter coalition with each other, or with the ruling party. * Multiple-member Coalitions can also be subject to unusual circumstances. A Pluralality Coalition is a two-or-more party ruling coalition which governs, despite lacking a majority. ** A Plurality Caretaker is the most common form of this type of government. It occurs when elections deny the existing Coalition a majority, or when a member of the Coalition rejects the Coalition, taking its majority away. Plurality Caretakers remain in government until replaced - sometimes by addition of a member to regain a majority, or a shift to the Opposition. ** A Ruling Plurality forms when a natural ally, or a centrist party, supports one wing over the other, without cabinet representation in compensation. These coalitions often existed early in Darnussian history, more or less informally, with certain parties voting to support a government that did not include them, in order to avoid an alternative government they would percieve as worse. ** An Unstable Plurality is similar to a Ruling Plurality, except that the tacit supporter of the government has a severe ideological difference with the government itself. Unstable Pluralities are the rarest and weakest of the governing forms. They only form when a Containment policy overrides ideological concerns, causing (most often) a right-wing party to tacitly support left-wing rule rather than allow another right-wing party to govern. The current Coalition is of this form. The largest party in the Coalition usually, but not always, selects the Prime Minister of the Republic. The party leaders of each member of the Coalition, other than the Prime Minister, are designated as (Name of Party) Leader Opposition and Other Parties The largest single party in the House of Delegates which is not a member of the Coalition is termed the Official Opposition. Its role is to serve as a government in waiting, in the event of a collapse in the governing Coalition. The Opposition might form a "Shadow Government," headed by the Shadow Prime Minister. Other, smaller parties, except those who are part of the Coalition, may join the Shadow Government, but are not required to do so. All parties not in the Coalition, however, are generally considered "Opposition" except when they have taken action to declare themselves as "Neutrals" The leader of the Official Opposition is addressed as Minority Leader. Parties which are neither the Official Opposition party, nor a member of the Coalition, might declare either as an affiliate member of the Opposition, or as a Neutral. This is relatively rare, even when the Opposition consists of parties of opposite wings. Ideological and Containment Coalitions Generally, Coalitions can be described politically as taking one of several forms. * An Ideological Coalition forms when parties of similar ideology (either left or right wing, usually) band together to form a Government. While the parties may not be in complete agreement on every issue, they have enough agreement to find common ground for a relatively long-term and stable arraingement. * A Centrist Coalition is less stable subtype of the Ideological, where it is centrism rather than left or right wing ideology that unites the parties. * A Bi-Polar Coalition is formed when the two largest parties of opposite ideology enter into coalition. This form has been relatively common in recent Darnussian history. It generally, however, has no ideological coherency, with no demands made on the members. * A Rainbow Coalition is formed when parties from nearly random positions on the ideological spectrum enter coalition, without regard to possible alternatives. This is more often than not a result of internecine fighting within both wings, where left-wing and right-wing parties would rather work with each other than their nominal ideological cousins. Relatively common in the earlier days of the Republic, it has fallen largely out of use in modern Darnussia, likely because of fewer large parties existing in general. * A Containment Coalition is formed when parties agree to form a cabinet to the exclusion of some other party or parties. Usually, but not always, the victim of such an agreement is a far-right party (there have also been Communists who have suffered from Containment.) In some extreme cases, large parties have gone multiple decades excluded from the government, because few or no other parties will work with them. This type, oddly, is seen throughout Darnussian history, with examples in the 2100s through the 2600s. Darnussian Democratic Republic (2639 to present) House of Delegates (2653 to present) The House of Delegates was formed in the years after the Deimore Incident, after the revolutionary period ended. It is the current Legislature of Darnussia. There are 599 total seats in the body, meaning 300 members are sufficient to form a majority. The debating chambers required extensive remodeling and expansion, due to the size of the legislature nearly doubling from the preceding People's Assembly. People's Assembly (2645 to 2653) Prior to 2653, the National Legislature of Darnussia was briefly named the People's Assembly by the Revolutionary government. The PA had a fixed membership of 301 Assemblymen, meaning a majority was attained with 151 members. The Head of Government was titled Premier, under the People's Assembly, rather than the current Prime Minister. Revolutionary Council for Justice and Democracy (2638 to 2645) Immediately after the Deimore Incident, the newly (re)formed Darnussian Democratic Republic was governed by the Revolutionary Council (RC), which sat at 301 elected members. The Head of the council was the Chairman of the Revolutionary Council (or just Chairman). Empire / United Republic of Narikaton and Darnussia (2599 to 2638) With the end of the Second Darnussian Civil War, the capital (and legislature) returned to Merenbürg after a 200 year absence. Windsted Palace, which had been a museum, then briefly the House of Lords for the Imperia Narikaton, was remodeled and rechristened the national legislature building during 2599. Imperial Council (2625 to 2638) The Imperial Council was the legislative body for the Empire of Narikaton and Darnussia, under the administration of Empress Antoinette I and her Imperial Viceroy, Claude Deimore. The body stood at 301 members, but had little actual legislative power under the Deimore reign. The Imperial Viceroy served the same legal function, in principle, as the Prime Minister does today, and did under the preceding Parliament - in actuality, the Viceroy was a dictator, and the Imperial Council was a rubber-stamp on his power, until the revolution. The body formed after the United Liberation Army was left with an outright majority, following the withdrawal (some believe, engineered by Claude Deimore) of the Darnussian Liberal Democratic Party and the Dariusian Separitists (sic) parties from the previous Parliament. Parliament (2599 to 2625) The Parliament of the United Republic of Narikaton and Darnussia was the legislative body that governed the unwieldy dual-system that emerged from the Second Civil War. It was led by a Prime Minister. Although intended as a permenant replacement for the Parliament at Doressa, it turned out to merely be one of several transitionary bodies in the turbulent early 2600s. The Cabinet of 2599 to 2605, such as it was, was transitional from the First Darnussian Democratic Republic, and "officially" carried over several persons killed during the Civil War. Ministers from the Imperia Narikaton House of Lords filled the vacancies in a caretaker role until the cabinet could be reformed in 2606. (First) Darnussian Democratic Republic (2374 to 2599) The First Darnussian Democratic Republic held its Parliamentary meetings at Doressa, in the Saßainfülde Center The building was destroyed by aerial bombing in the Second Darnussian Civil War. The Parliament briefly met in the inland city of Goodewood, at the Grand Kozar Hotel, until the final surrender and the creation of the United Republic 301-member Parliament at Doressa (2567 to 2599) In 2567, the Darnussian Parliament at Doressa expanded a final time by a single seat, to reach 301 members. This was obstensively done to prevent the ties that were possible when the body had 300 members. The Parliament was bombed in the latter part of the Second Civil War. The "Wartime" cabinets held the theoretical cabinet ministries, starting in 2588, until the surviving legitimate officers were restored to power in 2599. However, the Cabinet actually governed nothing during this period, with the Imperia Narikaton being run by the Emperor and Empress, and the remnants of the DDR being ruled by a combination of executive fiat and rump Parliament committee (Below this line, only election results are tabulated) 301-seat Parliament: 300-seat Parliament Prior to 2478, the legislature size was fixed at 281 In 2385, the Parliament sat at 101 members. Major events: * 2585 Imperia Narikaton splits off. * 2566 Renamed back to DDR * 2450 Renamed from DDR to Darnussian Republic * 2373 - Nation becomes DDR - was Hobrazian Protectorate before. Transitional Darnussian States (2350 to 2374) Two relatively short-lived national systems governed Darnussia between the end of the Deltarian occupation and the beginning of the first Darnussian Democratic Republic; the Great Democratic Republic of Darnussia (GDRD) and the Imperial Hobrazian Protectorate of Independent Darnussia (IHPID). The national legislature, moved to Doressa from Red Stad by the Revolutionary Council, originally sat at 75 members, but ultimately grew to a membership of 101, as the body changed forms to become the National Assembly (and briefly, the '''Imperial Chamber of Darnussian Senators') The National Assembly (and its short-lived analogues) met at what had been the Deltarian Occupational Force Building at Doressa from 2350 to 2365, renaming it the '''National Legislative Building' (which later became the Grand Parliament Hotel), then moved permanently to the Saßainfülde Center by 2366. Deltarian Occupation (2317 to 2350) After the overthrow of "President" Hubert in 2317, the Deltarian Occupational Government, moved to Red Stad, governed Darnussia for three brutal decades. While "elections" were held during this period, no pretense of Democracy was made; people who voted incorrectly were shot, after all. Czàr Sebastian governed the nation, with appointed technocrats who formed a rubber-stamp legislature (the D.O.G.) and a cabinet personally loyal to the Czàr. This state of affairs continued until the Deltarian withdrawl, and the formation of the Revolutionary Council for Justice and Democracy in 2350. Lusitania (2255 to 2317) Because of the predominance of the Lusitanian language in government during the reign of the Lusitanians, it is difficult to get an accurate picture of governance. The government swung rapidly, as different Lusitanian factions competed for their vision of how to run the government - at one point they ran it as a Kingdom, at another, as a Republic. It is likely that Lusitania would have survived in the long run, however - by the end, they had begun accomodating Darnus and Narik speakers, and allowing the other peoples of their country increasing voice in the nation - had it not been for the Deltarian Occupation that followed. The Lusitanian takeover began simply enough; they were able to depose Konrad Beyer, the last "President" of Darnussia. Once that had been accomplished, they enjoyed broad popular support - at least, at first. Restored Republic of Lusitania (2308 to 2317) Recognizing that they could not keep Dom Duarte II on the throne, the Conservatives conceded the battle, and agreed to restore the nation to a Republic, officially. As part of the new changeover, however, institutions were renamed in Narik and Darnus, as well as Lusitanian; Lusitanian rule was coming to an end of its own accord. The Legislature formally became the "Assembly of the Republic." However, affairs took a fatal step backwards in 2314, when the Partito Nazionale (Nationalist Party) seized absolute power, a step which would anger the population and make the nation ripe for the dark years that followed. Restored Kingdom of Lusitania (2302 to 2308) The Conservative Party takeover restored Dom Duarte II to the throne briefly, but they were unable to keep more Republican influences at bay for long. This brief period of mostly minority rule probably represented the last gasp of Lusitanian rule; the brief period that followed (above) essentially saw Darnus and Narik speakers ascending back to government through the democratic process. Although the President's title had been changed to "Rei" formally, in practice the King was simply an elected President, except for not having to run for re-election in 2303 due to a technical snafu. Republic of Lusitania (2277 to 2302) With the removal of Dom Duarte II from his monarchy, the short-lived Republic of Lusitania was born. The Republic proved no more stable than the Kingdom had; indeed, at least the Kingdom had the King as a unifier - the wild swings in Lusitania's Assembleia da Republica seldom had such unity from year to year. One hallmark of the era was increasing democratic participation by Darnussians - and thus, party names gradually merged back into Darnus and Narik forms, as did legislative debate. One odd trend of this era was the tendency to allow single-party cabinets to form, even without legislative majorities. In one case, one was formed by a single vote plurality in a three-way legislature. Kingdom of Lusitania (2255 to 2276) The first task of the Lusitanians who overthrew the Beyer regime was to determine the form of government. Their first task was to install Dom Duarte II as King, and officially reshape the nation as the Kingdom of Lusitania (Reino de Lusitania). It is still not known who Dom Duarte the First was, incidently. The Cortes served as the Lusitanian legislature. After the abolition of the Kingdom in 2276, the Republic of Lusitania was proclaimed, and the Cortes became the Assembleia da Republica (Assembly of the Republic). Most Serene Republic of Darnussia (1966 to 2255) The Most Serene Republic of Darnussia was the nation's first true democratic incarnation, although the Parliament predated its formation, with ancestry traceable to the Narikaton City-State era. Unfortunately, many of the early records were lost permenantly, by the chaotic events of the Konrad Beyer affair, the Lusitanian take-over, Deltarian invasion, and the Hobaist attempts to rewrite Darnussian history. The earliest records were the most sensitive to destruction. We know that in the earliest form, the Leading Minister (later termed Secretary General) served in a Chief Executive role - it was difficult, if not impossible, for a Government to form without his blessing. This role dated back to the Kingdom days, when the King would select his Ministers, and the legislature would accept them, or else. This power in the Chief Executive would make for some very interesting, and at times very difficult, governing of the nation. This stands in stark contrast to the Darnussian Democratic Republic of later years, where the Parliament generally has had the power to create its own working coalition over the objection of a dissenting President - in later years, the lesson of history learned was that a gridlocked government was better than a toothless one. The Presidency and the Senate (2200 to 2255) The final form of the government of the Most Serene Republic was anything but Serene. The Republic entered a sharp decline, and increasing political gridlock, until the ultimate collapse and takeover from the Imperial Presidency, which would ultimately lead to the opportunity for the Fascists, then the Lusitanians, to take over the government themselves; Darnussians had become fed up with their own government's inability to manage the affairs of state, after a nearly two-decade long inability of the Senate to reach even the most basic of consensuses. 550 Senators (2158 to 2199) Reversing an earlier change, the Senate grew from 201 seats to 550 seats in the 2250s. This may have been a result of the chaotic early 2250s, and a desire to dilute the influence of mischiefmakers in the body politic, although the attempt was not entirely successful. This era saw the last of the "Secretaries General" as Chief Executive, and an increasing tendency for governments to collapse unexpectedly over earlier eras. It also saw an increase in inabilities of Secretaries General to form workable governments in the later part of the era, which sometimes led to a decade or more of "opposition government." The Darnussian Senate (2146 to 2156) In the 2140s, the term "Parliament" to describe the national legislature fell into disuse, with the body increasingly refered to as the "Senate." A very turbulent decade occured shortly after the change was made official, although it was not caused by the name change itself - more likely, the name change was a symptom of the chaotic 40s and 50s. During this era, there were 201 Senators, and the Chief Executive was titled "Secretary General." The Musical Cabinets of 2153 were an attempt by the right-wing LSBC-Corp faction to set a new government for the nation by reaching out to a variety of coalition partners. The preferred partner was the centrist CED, but the alternatives were still "on the table" and the opposition took advantage to try to force left-wing participation. Once the LSBC realized what had been done, the coalition with CED was restored. The events of 2153 were the last time any party was "forced" into coalition against its will - afterward, the objection of any participant in a proposed government would automatically cause its failure, even if a majority of the legislature desired the government to form. First Expanded Cabinets (2121 to 2146) Prior to 2110, there were ten executive offices that made up the Cabinet. Three additional offices were created in 2110, which added some complexity, but also added some opportunity to the Secretary General to form a broader governing mandate. The Parliament of this era sat at 201 members. 201-seat Parliament (2111 to 2121) A small change occured in 2111, with the decision to add one additional Senator to the body, in order to make tied votes less likely to occur. This had not been a concern when the body stood at 750 members, as a tie was far less likely an occurence. Early 200-seat Parliament (2098 to 2110) Until 2098, the Parliament was composed of 750 members. It was felt this number was unwieldy in debate, and led to inefficiencies in government. In 2098, the number of MPs was drastically reduced, to 200. Title Change to Secretary General (2073 to 2096) The role of the Chief Executive changed slightly sometime in 2072, and the position was renamed "Secretary General." It is believed that this was due to increasing desire among the MPs to distance themselves from Royalist tendencies that were inherent trappings of the Leading Minister post, and to eliminate confusion between the offices of Leading Minister (a person directly elected) and Prime Minister (an officer of the Parliament, albeit with the Leading Minister's selection and appointment) During this period, the Parliament had a size of 750 seats (see next section for more on that change) For unknown reasons, it was commonplace in this era for parties to endorse a government despite not participating in it themselves. These "supporting" parties are noted as part of the Governing coalition, with their numbers of seats in double-parenthesis, to set them apart from the actively governing parties. It was also possible for a party to be "forced" into government, without it having endorsed the government itself. In one case, the cabinet of 2072, a party was forced into government over its own active objection - this case is marked with its number of seats bolded. The tacit participation in government is not given any special markings, as it was entirely too common, and silence may not have indicated objection in these days 750-seat Parliament (2044 to 2072) For reasons now lost to history, the Parliament underwent a drastic change prior to 2044, with an expansion to 750 elected representatives, and a system of proportional representation of the provinces. The number of political entities represented in this body expanded drastically as well, as political affiliation became increasingly important in governance. Earliest Parliaments (1966 to 2044) In its earliest form, the national legislature was a mere 100 seats, evenly divided between Darnussia's five Provinces. This is the era with the least amount of surviving information - we only know of two governments that formed in this era, and the Leading Ministers identities are lost to history.